Making breakfast count

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, yet I put more energy, effort, money and planning into what I'm cooking for dinner and what the kids will be eating for lunch instead of how they start their day. Not anymore. This blog is all

Getting off to a good start

about making breakfast count in a refined sugar free house. This blog is all about me sharing with you how to make breakfast count. How to make it healthy, affordable, practical and how to manage this in a busy household.

I should start by saying that my sister and I grew up eating cereal for breakfast. It normally consisted of coco pops, fruit loops or weetbix sprinkled with sugar. My parents loved my sister and I dearly, but like most people in the 80's, eating white sugar for breakfast, lunch and dinner along smoking in the maternity ward and on aeroplanes was the norm. Thank goodness times have changed.

I am now 32 years old, have kicked my refined sugar habit and have 2 beautiful children. Ruby is 5 years old and William is 2 years old and they both live refined sugar free lifestyles. My partner and I are both primary school teachers so our views on eating breakfast are those from a parents perspective and also an educators. 

Being a primary school teacher, I have seen first hand the implications of a poor breakfast - or none at all. Students who come to school with no breakfast (or those that ate 2 hour earlier) are clearly distracted, tired, sluggish, off task and they simply struggle to concentrate and complete set work. Students who come to school after eating a poor breakfast such as boxed cereals or junk food normally arrive excited, attentive, slightly hyperactive and fidgety before plummeting to defiant, off task, angry, upset and exhausted. These are general observations over my 8 years of being a teacher. Watching students drink their flavoured milks while eating a sausage roll from the tuckshop only means that this cycle will start again after lunch. I have seen this over and over and over again. Food effects learning. Simple.

Imagine if every student had a healthy nutritional breakfast

This is why I believe more attention needs to be given to breakfast, especially for those who have children. 

Time for me to practice what I preach. Breakfast in my house needs an uplift. I wouldn't say that it 'bad' at the moment, but I know I can do better. For us, a normal breakfast consists of either pancakes made with wholemeal flour served with bananas and cream, eggs (cooked all different ways), bacon, sausages, porridge, homemade muesli or vita weets. We rarely have bread in our house so toast is never really an option (I don't even know where my toaster is) but that is about it and it's getting boring.

So over the last few weeks I decided to change just one thing, knowing that it was going to improve how breakfast was eaten in my house. What did I change? My thinking. Yes, my thinking; I have changed how I think of breakfast. I have said goodbye to the perception that to have breakfast one must have a bowl, spoon, milk and a box of commercial cereal. 

In order for this to work, for me, in my house with a husband who works full time and with me working 2-3 days a week, I needed to actually start some new routines. I now;
1. Plan breakfast in advance. On my fridge every week is a meal plan identifying breakfast and dinner along with the 2-3 snacks I prepare for school lunches. After the plan is written, I compose a shopping list, which means I visit the shops once a week and the markets once a week for local fresh produce. I always have what I need because my shopping covers all my meals.
2. Invest more energy into breakfast. Instead of making a bowl of cereal, which takes 30 secs, I spend the time preparing, cooking, serving and eating a wholesome meal, which is why I get up earlier.
3. Think outside the box (excuse the pun), which means I need to let go of commercial breakfast foods and start eating traditional meals. 

Put the love back into breakfast

Left over curry from the night before, is now breakfast. Sausages, eggs, tomato and avocado wraps are now breakfast. Savoury muffins are now breakfast. A hearty full beef and vegetable soup is now breakfast. Meat and noodle stir fry is now breakfast. One of the best things about this, is that I can put any leftovers into a pre-heated thermos for my kids to take to school for lunch.

So, if you are at home and you're thinking that you want to improve breakfast and ditch the boxed commercial cereals, there is only one thing you need to do and that is change your thinking. Accept that it will take time, effort and maybe a little planning but the rewards and benefits are far worth it and it will soon become routine. 

Simply plan breakfast, invest the energy by spending more time in the kitchen or getting up earlier (yes, I am already up early with a 2 year old, however, i make sure I go to bed very earlier) and think of things that you've never considered in the past. Don't forget, that it may also take some time for the family to adjust to this new style of breakfast so you may need to take things slowly.

To get you started, I've listed a few breakfast ideas that you may enjoy.

- Cook extra at dinner so that you have leftovers the next day for breakfast. If there is not enough, serve with brown rice, wholemeal cous cous or make a wrap out of it. 
- Precook a batch of brown rice and have it in easy to thaw serving size portions in the freezer. You can mix rice with so many things.
- Fry, grill, mash or mix leftovers
- Cook stews and soups and serve with crusty wholemeal bread or croutons. This is a great way to use up vegetables in the bottom of your crisper. Perfect for cold days or to boost immunity
- Bake savoury muffins (sweet or savoury) cooked in advance and heated in the morning served with

Breakfast Pizza. Scramble the
eggs if the kids prefer it that
way.

butter 
- Prepare eggs, bacon, sausage, mushrooms, tomatoes served in many ways - muffins, wraps, as a stir fry with rice noodles, baked etc
- Make Vegetable bakes
- Bake quiches
- Experiment with homemade muesli
- Cook a batch of pancakes (can cook quite a few at once on a BBQ) - lots of options for these - sweet pancakes such as blueberry or banana compared to savoury pancakes such as corn and grated zucchini. Left overs are great for lunches.
- Try a breakfast pizza - eggs, bacon, tomato, mushrooms - do mini or large ones
- Prepare a risotto
- Make chia puddings the night before - they'll be ready in the morning
- Blend smoothies and shakes - add oats, eggs, spinach, nuts etc. My kids LOVE these.
- Try homemade breakfast bars
- Bake homemade breads - sourdough/ banana/ carrot etc - can toast this and serve with ricotta, cottage cheese or mascarpone

I hope that this blog has ignited a little spark that may lead you or your family to give your breakfast an uplift, just like I'm doing with mine. 

Thanks again for all the sweet comments and positive feedback and don't forget that you can find some great recipes on my sister and mine Sugar Free Recipes Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/groups/218481978278096/


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